MOVED: Veteran Edison High School teachers, from left, Ta Shina Nelloms, Rebecca Calvert, Shawn DeNight, Terry Lewis, Meghan Hauptli and Kathy Rosenthal Humphrey have been involuntarily transferred to other schools. JOSHUA PREZANT/FOR THE HERALD
Posted on 08/15/2003 1:48:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
There are no waiting lists to teach at Edison Senior High.
''We've never been able to attract teachers,'' said Shawn DeNight, Florida's 1995 Teacher of the Year and a longtime Edison stalwart. ``We always just took whoever showed up.''
But after the state gave Edison its third consecutive F grade this summer, district officials made the drastic move of forcing out nearly a third of the school's faculty. DeNight and other veterans were among more than 30 teachers reassigned to other schools.
''We needed to bring about a change, and in order to do that, we needed to move some people,'' said Mercedes Toural, the district's chief education officer. ``Some of these teachers are not bad teachers, but they've been there too long.''
MOVED: Veteran Edison High School teachers, from left, Ta Shina Nelloms, Rebecca Calvert, Shawn DeNight, Terry Lewis, Meghan Hauptli and Kathy Rosenthal Humphrey have been involuntarily transferred to other schools. JOSHUA PREZANT/FOR THE HERALD
Edison's high poverty, crime and immigrant population make teacher burnout a serious concern, Toural said.
Many of the Edison transfers -- as well as 20 others from the county's three double-F senior highs -- said they were given no explanation for why they were targeted for ``involuntary transfers.''
''It's real unclear what their criteria is,'' said Kathy Rosenthal Humphrey, who taught English at Edison for 19 years and was the school's Teacher of the Year in 2001-02. ``The law gives carte blanche to the principal, and nobody had to prove fairness of application.''
Edison principal Theron Clark did not return calls to the school or his home.
GOOD CREDENTIALS
Many of the transferred teachers had credentials they thought would protect them. Humphrey, for example, helped launch Edison's lab school, recruiting master teachers from across the county to teach a small group of students on Saturdays while other Edison teachers observed their techniques.
DeNight said he is insulted the district waited until a few weeks before school opens to deliver the news. Teachers were informed by mail or at school meetings, some as recently as last Friday.
''They were looking at employees like numbers instead of part of the education community,'' said Mark Richard, administrator of the United Teachers of Dade union.
''No administrators ever said anything bad about my teaching,'' said Rosemary Melinek, an advanced-placement biology teacher at Northwestern who was moved. ``I've never had any criticism.''
The union's contract normally puts strict limits on involuntary transfers, but the district has broad authority at ''failing'' schools, so labeled if they received two Fs in any four-year window.
Under Gov. Jeb Bush's A+ Plan for Education, the staff at failing schools is supposed to be ''reconstituted,'' but the law does not define how aggressive the district should be.
Edison received a new principal just a few weeks before the end of the spring semester and is slated to get a new vice principal, two assistant principals and other new administrators when classes begin no Aug. 25.
The three double-F high schools -- Booker T. Washington, Northwestern and Jackson -- had between two and 16 teachers transferred, according to Willa Young, a district associate superintendent.
Principals and regional administrators had fairly broad power to craft a new team, Toural said.
''We discuss some of the changes that need to be made in order to bring about a change in climate,'' she said.
SUBJECT REVIEW
While the district does not have access to the standardized test scores of individual teachers' students, it can review results by subject and grade, she said. Since reading scores fell at Edison -- only 3 percent of freshmen and 4 percent of seniors were classified at least proficient in 2003 -- they decided to shake up the English department.
DeNight was its chairman.
''Who's going to teach these kids?'' he asked.
Rookies, most likely.
Because the district cannot normally force teachers out of nonfailing schools, they will rely on volunteers to fill the voids. The rest of the spots will probably go to new hires, who have little say over where they are assigned.
''New teachers have new ideas and enthusiasm and energy,'' Toural said. ``We need to do something drastic or Edison's going to get a fourth F.''
It would seem there is a problem with public education. They better start looking back a few grades.
I wonder, whose children will get these teachers now?
Huh?
Edison received a new principal just a few weeks before the end of the spring semester and is slated to get a new vice principal, two assistant principals and other new administrators when classes begin no Aug. 25.
They made major changes to a failing school. This grading program has worked. Students gains in Florida have been rising faster than anywhere in the nation.
Schools at odds in racial division - Hearne ISD sues nearby Mumford for "white fight" - More like flight for education.
Oy vey.
'It's real unclear what their criteria is,'' said Kathy Rosenthal Humphrey, who taught English at Edison for 19 years and was the school's Teacher of the Year in 2001-02.With grammar like that coming from the English teacher, can you really expect the students to perform well? This is yet another example of why my son will NEVER attend a public school.
Grammarnazi raises hand.
They're united against education reform.
ding ding ding! I think you are correct. Vanna, give G the prize!
The district gave teachers until today, two weeks ahead of the Aug. 30 deadline the state Education Department set for superintendents to ensure teachers (excluding those teaching bilingual classes) are proficient in English.
For many longtime teachers with master's degrees and impeccable reputations, the dismissal is a bitter pill to swallow, particularly in a district that courted bilingual teachers in the 1980s, when Lowell saw an influx of immigrant students.
``If (a teacher's) fluency alone can change a student's life, I don't believe it,'' said Vera Tith, a third-grade teacher who came from Cambodia in 1981, earned her master's degree from UMass Lowell and built a career that has spanned nearly 20 years. ``I came to this country and worked very hard, and now I have to find a way to survive.''
Lowell Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr did not return calls yesterday.
Kimberly Beck, a state Education Department spokeswoman, said the department has no statewide count yet of how many teachers may be affected by the proposition voters approved in November requiring English fluency. [End]
Yep, they are the administrators of the school. The article also stated that other administrators were replaced along with the principals (e.g. guidence counselors, finance officiers etc...,).
I believe that this is a good thing, a start at least. That is, you fail, massive wholesale changes are made in an effort to improve the school. I think that every school that these changes were forced, the scores have improved.
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